Backblaze vs Carbonite 2026: Cloud Storage vs Backup
Quick Answer
AI SummaryBackblaze is a cloud storage platform (B2) optimized for developers and businesses with superior upload speeds and transparent pricing, while Carbonite is an automatic personal/business backup solution focused on simplicity with unlimited storage and hands-off backup management.
Read full verdictChoose Backblaze if you need a scalable, API-driven cloud storage solution with excellent performance for developers, integrations, and enterprise workloads. Choose Carbonite if you want a simple, automatic backup solution for your computer that requires no technical setup and includes unlimited storage in a flat-rate subscription.
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Choose Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage if
Developers, DevOps teams, cloud-native applications, and enterprises needing scalable, API-first storage solutions.
Choose Carbonite if
Best pickIndividual consumers, home office users, small businesses, and remote workers who prioritize simplicity and unlimited storage over technical control.
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Key Differences at a Glance
- Primary Use Case:Cloud storage platform for developers, businesses, and integrations vs Automatic backup service for personal computers and small businesses
- Upload Performance (5MiB Files):✓ Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage wins(Industry-leading in Q1 2026 benchmarks vs Not publicly benchmarked at comparable levels)
- Storage Limits:✓ Carbonite wins(Unlimited storage included in subscription vs Pay-per-GB with no hard limits (scalable))
Key Facts & Figures
2 numeric metrics compared
| Metric | Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage | Carbonite | Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Storage Pricing($/GB/month) | $0.006/GB/month | Unlimited (varies by plan: $8.25-$24.92/month) | — |
| Annual Subscription Cost (10TB Storage)(USD) | $720 ($0.006 × 10,000GB × 12 months) | $99-$299 (flat rate, unlimited) |
Sourced from publicly available data ·
Key Differences
7 attributes compared head-to-head
- Cloud storage platform for developers, businesses, and integrationsPrimary Use CaseAutomatic backup service for personal computers and small businesses
- Industry-leading in Q1 2026 benchmarks(winner)Upload Performance (5MiB Files)Not publicly benchmarked at comparable levels
- Pay-per-GB with no hard limits (scalable)Storage LimitsUnlimited storage included in subscription(winner)
- $0.006/GB/month + API transaction fees (transparent, usage-based)Pricing Model$99-$299/year flat rate (predictable, all-inclusive)
- Requires manual configuration or API integrationAutomation LevelFully automatic background backup (set and forget)(winner)
- Robust REST API, S3-compatible, webhooks, integrations(winner)API & Developer ToolsLimited API access, primarily GUI-based
- DevOps, enterprises, cloud-native applicationsTarget AudienceIndividual consumers, remote workers, small offices
- Primary Use Case
Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage
Cloud storage platform for developers, businesses, and integrations
Carbonite
Automatic backup service for personal computers and small businesses
- Upload Performance (5MiB Files)
Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage
Industry-leading in Q1 2026 benchmarks(winner)
Carbonite
Not publicly benchmarked at comparable levels
- Storage Limits
Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage
Pay-per-GB with no hard limits (scalable)
Carbonite
Unlimited storage included in subscription(winner)
- Pricing Model
Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage
$0.006/GB/month + API transaction fees (transparent, usage-based)
Carbonite
$99-$299/year flat rate (predictable, all-inclusive)
- Automation Level
Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage
Requires manual configuration or API integration
Carbonite
Fully automatic background backup (set and forget)(winner)
Full Comparison
| Attribute | ||
|---|---|---|
| Storage Pricing($/GB/month) | $0.006/GB/month | Unlimited (varies by plan: $8.25-$24.92/month) |
| Annual Subscription Cost (10TB Storage)(USD) | $720 ($0.006 × 10,000GB × 12 months) | $99-$299 (flat rate, unlimited)(winner) |
| Upload Speed Performance (5MiB Files)(Mbps (relative ranking)) | Industry-leading (Q1 2026) | Not publicly benchmarked |
| Maximum Storage Capacity(TB) | Unlimited (scalable) | Unlimited |
| Backup Automation | Manual setup or API-driven (requires configuration) | Fully automatic (background process, no setup required) |
| API Availability(text) | Full REST API, S3-compatible, webhooks, CLI tools | Limited API access, primarily GUI-based |
| Physical Disaster Recovery(null) | Cloud-based recovery only | Courier recovery service included (physical hard drive delivery) |
| Hybrid Backup Support(null) | Not natively supported (requires third-party tools) | Native hybrid backup combining local and cloud backups |
Pros & Cons
10 pros·6 cons across both
Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage
Pros
Cons
Carbonite
Pros
Cons
Frequently Asked Questions
5 questions
Yes — Backblaze Personal Backup is genuinely unlimited. No data cap, no per-GB pricing, no throttling after a threshold. It backs up all files on your internal hard drive(s) plus connected external drives (if they stay connected for at least 30 days — Backblaze's continuous connection rule). Common exclusions: OS system files, applications and executables, temp/cache files, and a short list of system folders — but all your personal data (photos, documents, videos, music) is included. The $99/year price covers one computer. For multiple computers, each needs its own Backblaze subscription. Backblaze is one of the very few cloud backup services that truly delivers on "unlimited" without hidden throttles.
Initial Backblaze backup time depends entirely on your data volume and upload speed. Rough estimates: 100GB on a 50 Mbps upload ≈ 5–6 hours; 500GB on 50 Mbps ≈ 1–2 days; 1TB on 50 Mbps ≈ 3–4 days; 5TB on 50 Mbps ≈ 2–3 weeks. Most home internet connections have asymmetric speeds — upload is typically much slower than download (a 500 Mbps download connection may only have 25 Mbps upload). Backblaze offers bandwidth throttling controls to prevent the backup from consuming all your upload bandwidth. After the initial backup completes, ongoing backups are incremental (only changed/new files) and run continuously in the background with negligible impact.
Not on the Basic plan. Carbonite Basic ($72/year) explicitly excludes video files. Video backup requires Carbonite Plus ($112/year) or Prime ($149/year). This is a significant limitation because most users' largest data footprint is video. By comparison, Backblaze Personal Backup ($99/year) includes video files with no restrictions. If you shoot video on your phone and import it to your computer, travel with a camera, or have any video collection, Backblaze is the better value at $99/year vs Carbonite Plus at $112/year — you get video plus better version history and private key encryption.
The "3-2-1 backup rule" is the gold standard: 3 copies of your data, on 2 different media types, with 1 offsite. Online backup (Backblaze/Carbonite) is your offsite copy — excellent for disaster recovery (fire, flood, theft), but slow to restore large datasets. You should also maintain local backup via an external hard drive with Time Machine (Mac) or File History/third-party software (Windows). Local backup restores in hours vs. potentially days for large cloud restores. For critical files (irreplaceable photos, business documents), use both: local backup for speed, cloud backup for disaster resilience. A $60/year cloud backup + a $80 external hard drive covers both scenarios.
Yes — Backblaze Personal Backup automatically includes external hard drives (USB, FireWire) connected to your computer during backup runs, at no extra cost and within the same unlimited storage plan. This is a significant advantage over Carbonite, which does not back up external drives on its basic or Plus plans (only the Prime plan at $149.99/year adds external drive backup). Photographers and videographers with large external storage particularly benefit from Backblaze's external drive inclusion. The external drive must be connected when Backblaze runs — it doesn't back up drives that were connected in the past but are now disconnected.
Expert Analysis: Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage vs Carbonite
Backblaze and Carbonite are two of the longest-running cloud backup services in the market, but by 2026 they have diverged significantly in strategy, pricing, and target audience. Backblaze remains a consumer and prosumer favorite; Carbonite has repositioned as an SMB/enterprise solution under the OpenText umbrella.
Backblaze Personal Backup ($99/year for unlimited storage on one computer) is one of the most straightforward backup products available. There are no file-size limits, no storage caps, and no throttling — Backblaze backs up everything on your drive continuously. Restores are handled via browser download or Backblaze ships you a USB hard drive (up to 8TB for $189, refundable if you return it within 30 days). The Backblaze B2 object storage product ($6/TB/month, minimum 1TB) is a separate offering aimed at developers, and it has become one of the most competitively priced S3-compatible storage solutions available, used by media companies, backup vendors, and developers who need affordable cloud storage. Backblaze's transparency is notable: they publish their hard drive reliability statistics quarterly, which has built them significant trust in the data storage community.
Carbonite, now owned by OpenText (which acquired it via its acquisition of Carbonite/Opentext's cloud backup division), has shifted away from its consumer roots. The consumer tier (Carbonite Safe, ~$71.99/year) remains available but is not actively marketed. Carbonite's SMB offerings — Carbonite Safe for Business ($24/month for 1 computer, or $99/month for 5 computers) — include features like automated bare-metal restore, external drive backup, and courier recovery. The Carbonite Endpoint Protection suite targets IT teams managing device fleets. The OpenText acquisition has brought enterprise sales resources but also added complexity; some longtime Carbonite users report slower support response times since the transition.
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Key differentiators in 2026: Backblaze wins on price for individuals (unlimited backup at $99/year vs Carbonite's $71.99 with 500GB limit on the base tier). Backblaze also wins on mobile app quality and has a cleaner web interface. Carbonite's SMB-tier features (bare-metal restore, Active Directory integration, multi-computer fleet management) are more comprehensive for IT administrators managing multiple endpoints. Carbonite also offers a server backup product that Backblaze does not match at the personal/small business tier.
Restore speed is comparable: both services use delta-sync backup and can restore individual files quickly; full-disk restores over internet connections are slow regardless of provider (limited by upload/download bandwidth). Both services offer 30-day file version history at base tiers; Backblaze offers extended version history (1 year) as an add-on for $2/month.
For home users and freelancers: Backblaze at $99/year is the better value. For small businesses needing to protect 3-10 machines with IT-managed restore capabilities: Carbonite Safe Business justifies its higher price.
Resources & Learn More
Curated sources to dive deeper
Wikipedia
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Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage on Wikipedia (opens in new tab)
Developer-friendly cloud storage platform with S3-compatible API and transparent per-GB pricing.
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Carbonite on Wikipedia (opens in new tab)
Automatic cloud backup service offering unlimited storage with courier recovery and hybrid backup options.
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